1970 EB DC - The Dirty Diesel

[DubBGood2Me]

Rear brake done and all back together.



Fitted the teledials on the back and they sit just perfect. Unfortunately not enough space in the garage to take a decent picture.

Now the front. I can't even guess how long it has been since the front brakes were worked on. The ball joints covers were non existent and the ball joints themselves were slacker than......

Well let's just say they were slack :shock:





Got the drums, trailing arms etc off. Inhaled 6 kilo of Paraguayan dirt. Tidied the majority of crap and crud off. I think I'm going to dry fit everything then once I'm happy with it all the I can detail it. But only if I can be arsed :lol:
Looks like two of the torsion leaves have snapped on both so I guess I'm on the lookout for some new leaves. Had a set of trailing arms with nearly new ball joints in the shed so they have been used as well as a set of track rods


Off with the old, in with the not quite as old.



But nothing ever goes smoothly.

FFS





Bottom ball joint catches on the wheel. Grrrrrr

 

[bertiethebus]

Lee, while digging the containers I noticed individual leaves if any good to you?

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Lee, while digging the containers I noticed individual leaves if any good to you?

Maybe mate. Let me know

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Got one side finished and the wheels on the bus so needed to pull it out the garage, spin it and push it back in again. Managed a quick snap whilst having a heart attack after pushing it out on my own.



Got plenty of adjustment on the back to go lower but the front is static with 2.5" drop spindles so may have to add adjusters to my front beam.

Still have the issue with my bottom ball joint catching the inner rim on the teledials. I've tried grinding the bottom of the ball joint but there's still not enough room. So it's either spacers which might push the wheels out too far or bigger rims :roll:

 

[Myvanway]

8)

 

[georgeyv]

Love it, looks great on teledials. Sure you'll find a way!

 

[StinkBomber]

Looking wicked on the tele-dials!
Hope you're able to resolve the fouling... I'm sure more grinding and a shallower nut would be very bad form? :msn4: ...but once the joints are in, they do like to stay put.

Definitely have a set of nicely greased n stored leaves with only one (of the middle sized ones) cracked - feel free to give me a shout if bertiethebus doesn't have the ones you need

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Progress at last.

Spring plate stuck solid on the other side so I've been slowly grinding and cutting it away and eventually it's off. Rear hubs rebuilt and CV joints renewed. All ready to go back together like the other side. Then I'm rollin rollin rollin.

Found the issue with the front wheels too. Ground the bottom of the ball joint down so it's flush with the bolt. Now that's clearanced, it still seemed to be catching. A few hours led under the bus scratching my head and noticed that the inner edge of the rim is now catching on my new French Slammer 944 dropped spindles. Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhh :evil: :evil:

Guess I'm gonna have to clearance the new spindles too. Atleast I won't have to buy spacers and will retain a bit of tuck

 

[Webbaldo]

Good news matey!, be running next week

Hoping mine are that much of a bugger to do!

 

[bertiethebus]

Hurry up you two....... :mrgreen:

 

[DubBGood2Me]

New wheels purchased to fit over the clearance issues. I think I prefer the teledials but D90's will have to do for the moment. Plus they were a bargain Busy spraying them gloss black 8) They are 16" x 7" with an ET52 and clear the spindles lovely. Tyres just need fitting and then I'm rollin rollin rollin .......



Other than that progress has been slow as I've been building a man shed / workshop at the bottom of the garden to give me a bit more space.

But, still managed a little time on the crewie, so tackled the mass of wiring that has been accumulated by the previous Paraguayan bodger :lol: :roll: :evil:

Does this fuse box fill you with confidence??


At first I though a new loom would be needed, but as I've cut all the sh*t out, there seems to be a decent loom left. The bus had three starting devices :shock:



After a bit of tidying:


Steering wheel and column is now out and I'm busy trying to replace the ignition switch and barrel. The switch was an easy removal but the barrel is turning out to be a bugger. I have read up about it and apparently there's a little hole on the rear of the housing that needs a paper clip or some device pushed into to release a spring. But I'm having trouble finding the hole :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Cleaned up the front badge too.

Bit of Nitromors and a Stella!!


Bubble, bubble, burp.


I've decided not to strip it fully back and polish it. Instead I've left ot outside in the rain like this so that it rusts a bit

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Picked up a nice ratty but solid front bumper from a club member tonight. Cheers John!

Off to VW Powerfest at York this weekend. Looking forward to some VW drag racing at York raceway. Sadly i'll not be in an aircooled

 

[bertiethebus]

Lee if you want a hand with the ignition (ha! I only have one working hand at the mo) let me know

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Lee if you want a hand with the ignition (ha! I only have one working hand at the mo) let me know

Cheers Gav, I probably will

Quite pleased with the way the wheels have turned out.

 

[bertiethebus]

They look smart matey!! 8)

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Tyres fitted onto new rims and fitted to bus today.



And.................

Plenty of clearance 8)

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Steering column now put back together with correct ignition barrel. It's been an absolute sod getting the right barrel as the housing was the incorrect one. Had to buy a new ignition housing and guess what. Mine was a one year only one. Ffs.

Thought I'd replace the steering coupler as it was looking a bit worse for wear


All back together now so atleast I have steering again. Or atleast I did, until the steering box decided to jam itself solid. More bloody work :roll:

New locks have arrived too. All matching the ignition barrel.

 

[DubBGood2Me]

Steering box all sorted but I've had to order a new seal for the output flange from JK as the original one was fubar'd.

Got my recently purchased bug through its MOT. First time on the road since 2010.




Now that's out the way I'm determined to get the crewie up and running by Christmas. Then start the welding in the New Year.

Of course, nothing ever goes to plan does it????

 

[mike202]

Nice work, love the fuse box improvisation of PO :lol:

At least its a white fuse box not one of the 1970 yellow cheese ones.

The wheels look fab 8)